Back in the day when I was looking to just use the iPad Pro as my main machine I came to the conclusion that the iPad wasn’t suitable and would definitely have swapped it for a Neo. The iPad never worked for me as a laptop replacement and still wouldn’t.
I suspect that if the Neo was released years ago alongside the iPad Pro the iPad may have lost out on sales. I also think students wouldn’t be carrying an iPad about but a Neo.
Edit
Having said that the pen makes the ipad an excellent note taking device, but AI may at some point make that redundant.
I agree, and an iPad is my main computer. When Apple was interested in education it provided tools like Apple Remote Desktop that allowed easy remote management and monitoring for teachers. As I recall it offered little, if anything, similar for the iPad. I relied on ARD when we started switching to iMacs in 2009.
Apple still sells ARD for $79 but forgot about it years ago. It has rarely received higher than 1 star in a decade or longer.
The Neo may replace Chromebooks in some schools but many/most of them will probably be used with Google Workspace for Education. Apple doesn’t have anything similar and schools will need to purchase Jamf for management.
Intriguing… Look forward to the mystery announcement.
Do you plan to connect the Mac Mini to desktop monitors and/or an IPad Pro 13?
I have read posts in other forums by some enthusiasts who take the “IPad Pro as a part time dummy screen for a Mac mini” approach but it seemed to require a lot of dongles, software, etc and time to set up. Or am I just technically challenged?
I agree, I much prefer simplicity over complexity when possible.
The mini would be connected to a desktop monitor. The 13” iPad Pro would be my primary device. Nothing has been decided. I’m still experimenting with my “ultimate” hardware and software mix.
I like you and many experience the irritations of Safari but have never could quite understand what makes a browser a desktop browser versus mobile apart from my user frustrations. That’s why I fell out with windows pcs, they seemed to require some level of tech expertise or “tinkering” enthusiasm to get the pc to work, and the never ending updates…
Are there some things that a desktop browser does easily that mobile doesn’t? Is it some form of coding magic, and if so, why doesn’t Apple provide it? Bloody mindedness? I can’t see how it wouldn’t benefit them if users had better functionality.
My frustration with many websites is that they don’t scale on an IPad…it’s the 21st century and they still don’t scale despite the world generally functioning from its phones (browsers) particularly in Asia where I have lived previously.
Short answer, I don’t know. I do know that mobile Safari has more problems than Safari on Mac. And Safari on Mac has more problems than any chromium browser I have ever used.
Occasionally this presents as a feature on a website that doesn’t work properly. Like a report of my prescriptions that fails to appear when requested on my iPad, but runs properly on Safari for Mac. And sometimes it is a message on a bank site that says I am using an “unsupported browser”. This happened last week.
“Is it some form of coding magic, . . .” IMO, the problem is most likely a limitation of WebKit. AFAIK Apple uses it in Safari, Mail, App Store, & Apple TV, etc. in all their devices. They don’t fix it because they don’t want to. And they don’t allow Chromium browsers in the mobile App Store for the same reason.
Up to now it has been an irritation, much like a limitation in some of Apple’s apps. So I no longer rely on most of Apple’s apps. . . .
You can choose either to link the Mac’s keyboard and mouse (they also control iPad in iPadOS mode), or to use the iPad as a mirrored or external display (so you’re effectively working in MacOS). Here it’s being used as an External display
There are various options, so you’ll have to have a play to see what works for you, but it’s fairly intuitive, and it can be useful. E.g. you can use it to draw in MacOS apps with your Apple Pencil.
Quite often, editing posts on this very forum becomes super challenging on my iPad mini. One of the most common issues being the pop-up action bar obscuring the site’s pop-up quote control.
Aside from the practical differences in screen size, browser extensions from desktop do not directly work in iOS becaues the programming environment and sandboxing are very different between MacOS and iOS.
Plus a desktop browser has the benefit of multitasking that iOS does not have - so you can more easily integrate apps like PopClip or Keyboard Maestro.
I’ve had mixed results using an iPad as an additional monitor for my Mac Studio.
It will work perfectly for hours or days, and suddently stop working. A Reboot of both the iPad and Mac is needed to get it working again.
I tried connecting using a USB cable and that seemed to improve reliability, until it didn’t.
I ended up not using the iPad this way. Although it probably worked 80% or more of the time, the unpredictability of when it stops working and the reboot sequences (sometimes more than once) to get it working again was too much annoyance.
I guess if I really needed a seconded physical monitor I would buy a dedicated display.
For me, it was easier just to keep adjusting my workflow to use multiple windows or spaces instead of trying to spoil myself with another physical screen.
My personal TL;DR conclusion is that using an iPad as a monitor to a Mac is one of many small “paper cuts” or edge conditions where the solution is buggy and Apple doesn’t have the motivation to track down the root cause and fix it.
FWIW, it was even less reliable with older Macs and older iPads. Someone told me these solutions are very dependent on Wifi and BLE hardware revs, firmware, and software so can’t easily be fixed for certain combinations of devices and some bugs have never been squashed in any case?
Thanks. I like the paper cuts analogy. That’s my iPad experience. It’s a great device until…(insert problem). I understand iOS and MacOS are different by design but when one battles a fairly simple task then the papers cuts begin…sigh
This article is clearly clickbait. My brother owns a Surface and showed me how buggy it is - if you turn it from portrait to landscape a few time Windows bugs out, and he says its the buggiest computer he’s ever owned! Whoever wrote the article has clearly never even experimented with the latest iPadOS, it’s so much better integrated with the hardware than a Surface.
I am experimenting with my hardware setup. Recently, I have tried the Mac as my primary computer with the iPad as a complementary device, and the reverse. Now I am trying a third configuration: a high-end Mac mini on my office desk, with the 13-inch iPad serving as my primary device for everything else. I will turn to the Mac mini only when the iPad cannot accomplish a given task.
I have been using a similar setup since the M4 iPad Pro was released in 2024, with a Mac Studio Ultra for when I need to use LLMs/Whisper or write some code (rare these days as I work in senior management), and an iPad 11" M4 for most other tasks. I much prefer the iPad when mobile to my Macbook - always connected with 5G, beautiful screen and great battery life. Plus, I appreciate focussing on one app at a time, it means I focus more and am less likely to be distracted by another app (I always use DND at work so no notifications).
My Macbook has now been docked at home for almost 2 years now, and I don’t miss the bulk and need to tether to access the Internet when traveling. I have Jump desktop as a backup but haven’t needed it and I’ve been away on business trips for weeks at a time with only the iPad.
It’s all dependent on how you want to work (e.g. one app vs many apps on the screen at once) and what you do. My main use is using Notes in meetings and I often use the pencil and add photos with the iPad camera so for me it’s superior in almost every way. I am rarely at my desk and often work in a more comfortable place like a sofa in one of the lounges we have at work and I’m in meetings all day, rarely at my desk. However, if you have a desk job or work from home, I can understand the desire for a static machine and less need for things like 5G.
That was encouraging to read. I set my 13-inch iPad aside, and I’m using my 11-inch instead. I’m liking this better. I have a quick question for you: do you find that when you travel, the 11-inch iPad is adequate for your needs? That is probably my biggest question. The 13-inch is ideal for typing sessions of some length, but the 11-inch is much more conducive to notetaking, reading, and light typing. I’m curious as to what your experience has been.
